TEQUILA SUNSET

October 20, 2015 Posie Brien

I went to a wedding on Saturday on a little island off the southwest Florida coast. When the party ended, we piled into an old-fashioned open-air trolley to drive the 10 minutes back to our hotel.

The sky was brimming with stars. Every inch of the blackness overhead was saturated with stars, so many that they almost seemed to blend into shimmering swaths of light. We rode the trolley with the hot, humid night air pressing in on us. The road was dark and quiet, lined with palm trees that loomed above us, black and spiky and tropical-looking.

CHEWY MOLASSES COOKIES

October 12, 2015 Posie Brien

In the kitchen this morning while making cookies, I paused to scrape down the beater of my stand mixer. I scraped it messily, leaving enough batter to lick off cleanly before dropping it in the sink.

The sight of a batter-coated beater or spatula evokes a near-Pavlovian response in me. I absolutely have to sneak a finger-full, then I lick the rest off, then dig into the corners to get every last bit of batter.

LEMON TART

September 8, 2015 Posie Brien

I've been thinking about the gentle ways people in love treat each other: the way they light up quietly when the other walks in the room, or how they remember the other's coffee order.Where does it all go? If it isn't captured in a letter, or a song, or a hastily scribbled note left on the kitchen counter in the morning, it dissipates. You might never know how someone glances sideways at you during dinner or notices how you twist your fingers when you're nervous.

FRESH BLUEBERRY PIE

August 31, 2015 Posie Brien

I know this post is a little, shall we say, tardy. Blueberries are starting to fade from the farmers' market, shunted aside by firm, rosy peaches and piles of smooth, sugary-scented nectarines. I know I should stay in the moment, temporally grounded and appreciative of the present, but I can't help but miss them already. Blueberries are one of my favorite summer fruits: perfectly sized for snacking, not overly sweet, and too often overshadowed by sweeter, more seductive options like raspberries and strawberries.

GRILLED CHEESE WITH RELISH

August 13, 2015 Posie Brien

Last week, I wrote about my dad's grilled cheese for Cup of Jo. When I told my dad I had written about him -- touting his rare kitchen appearances as enough to make a French chef weep -- he claimed I may have oversold his talents.

But I really didn't. His trick for adding relish to a grilled cheese sandwich is smart and addictive and makes other grilled cheeses seem lackluster.